Developer to transform Newtown warehouse into housing

A developer may soon transform a 42-year-old abandoned warehouse sitting on a one-acre lot in Newtown to meet the growing demand for housing near the North Trail.

Commercial real estate broker Anthony Homer bought the property at 3500 Central Ave., which abuts the west side of Booker High School, for $75,000 in April, with plans to redevelop it into a 20-unit apartment complex. The city is considering a pre-application meeting for the $3.8 million plans, which include four two-story buildings and a pool, and 30 parking spaces.

The warehouse is less than a mile from Ringling College of Art & Design and two miles from University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee and New College of Florida.

“Obviously there’s a lot of demand for housing in that area,” Homer said. “Because Ringling and USF are growing, and apartments (in the area) have traditionally stayed very steadily occupied.”

As Ringling, USF, New College and State College of Florida, along with Eckerd College and Florida State University, formalized the launch of the Consortium of Colleges on the Creative Coast — or C4 — in January, students at several of those universities lamented the lack of affordable student housing.

“Cheap housing would be very helpful,” said Ringling freshman Orianna Flores in a recent interview with the Sarasota Observer. “Housing is very expensive.”

The city will have to rezone the property for more dense development before the project can proceed.

The proposed apartment complex, tentatively called Myrtle Village, is also near commercial properties on the North Trail. Homer said he hopes to open it for tenants by the end of 2017.

“I think that whole area is very livable and walkable,” Homer said. “I just love that neighborhood, so I want to see more development there.”